Some photographers work only in the studio, carefully composing still lifes, or working with models. Others bring this same careful way of working to such things as nature photography and wedding photos, to name just a few.

But I just wander through life with my camera, looking for things to take pictures of. And when I find something, the camera is to my eye, finding the best composition, checking the exposure, and then, just a quick shot or two, and I move on to the next thing that catches my eye. The interesting thing is that, when I leave my house, I never know what I'll bring back home.

So the camera is an extension of my eye, always ready for the next snapshot. As a result of working this way, the more automated the camera, the better. The camera is always ready. But this doesn't mean using the out-of-the-box automated settings. Trial and error eventually lead to the best all-around settings that yield the best image while requiring as little adjustment as possible.

More about this way of working and the settings I've found yield the best results with the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 in a future article. For now, a few more pictures from this very interesting camera. All of the photographs were saved in JPEG format and then worked on in LightZone, Paint Shop Pro, and a few other programs.